It seems to us … Corruption’s lighter side, final frontier and an un-Beliebable comment

You wouldn’t think Albany politicians could find much to joke about these days. But you’d be wrong.

As reported in the New York Times, legislators decided to crack wise about political corruption after returning to work following a two-week break. It’s apparently not uncommon for a member to frisk another for hidden wires. “You run into them, and you feel them up and down,” Assemblyman David I. Weprin, a Queens Democrat, was quoted saying. “You’ve got to make light of it some days.”

The “it” Weprin was referring to was the recent spate of corruption cases.

Four state legislators have faced accusations recently. One of them wore a wire to secretly record conversations for investigators.

We’re glad our legislators can see the humor in public corruption. It’s no joke to taxpayers and advocates of good government.

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The good news is that scientists have discovered two planets that could support life. So if we do succeed in destroying this home, there may be a new neighborhood we can move to. There is curb appeal: Each planet is about half again as big as Earth, so there’s lots of room, and they are neighbors, orbiting the same star. They may have ocean views, if suggestions of running water are accurate. It is likely that neither is polluted yet.

The problem is that they are a fair distance away: 1,200 light years, to be exact. If we are going to start exploring, we need to send someone there now. Nominations?

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Celebrity faux pas have become commonplace, but the recent cringe-inducing comment by Justin Bieber is bound to make the history books.

Bieber was given a guided tour of the Anne Frank House museum in Amsterdam. Upon leaving, the totally impressed Canadian pop star wrote in the guestbook: “Truly inspiring to be able to come here. Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a Belieber.”

Uh …

For those who may not know who Anne Frank was – and apparently some of his fan base tweeted they do not –she was the young girl who hid with her family in a small apartment above a warehouse during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam. Sadly, Anne’s family was caught and deported and she died in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945.